Mayor defends Wellington's Hobbit premiere splash-out

Updated
Wed 17 Oct 2012, 9:14 AM AEDT

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Wellington will officially be named "The Middle of Middle-Earth" for the week around the premiere of 'The Hobbit'.

IAN BRODIE/TOURISM NEW ZEALAND

The mayor of Wellington in New Zealand, Celia Wade-Brown, has defended the city council's decision to spend over a million dollars of residents' tax money on events to coincide with the premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey next month.

A total of $NZ1.1 million ($AU870,000) will go towards a 500-metre red carpet to welcome director Peter Jackson and his cast to the Embassy Theatre, as well as number of other themed events and the setting up big screens in Waitangi Park.

In the nights leading up to the premiere, there will be free screenings of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"I think its really important to have not just a great event on the day, but also there is going to be more than 100 different international media outlets in Wellington that day, and we want to tell the Wellington story of talent and technology," Ms Wade-Brown told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program.

"We consulted on spending the money on The Hobbit premiere through our budget consultation, which we do every year, and the money is from the commercial sector and they're very supportive of the council doing a great job."

She explained that the city would officially be named "The Middle of Middle-Earth" for the week around the premiere, which is scheduled for November 28.

The city's airport is also adopting the tag, and the Customs Service is considering a special Middle-Earth passport stamp.